:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/TOCR5VNT37NGVGXIK6H4ZIQIAU.jpg)
ST. CHARLES TOWNSHIP – The ginger-striped Tom cat with oversized fluffy ears and close-set emerald-green eyes hissed and spit as the blanket covering its trap was lifted.
This was no friendly kitty-cat to snuggle. This was 15 pounds of ferocious feral cat, un-neutered, fully clawed and not liking his confinement in a humane trap. He glared at Janet Spriet balefully and huffed his displeasure.
The ginger Tom cat is destined to be neutered and released into a feral cat colony. But, if there is no colony with such a caretaker willing to feed the cats and see they are sheltered, he would likely be euthanized instead, Spriet said.
"These are feral cats that can't be adopted," said Spriet, of St. Charles Township. "There's not enough barns to put them in. There's not enough horse stables to put them in. And if they're wild enough, they don't stay anyway. They go off into the cornfields and who knows what happens to them."
Spriet is affiliated with a group called Fixin' Feral Felines, based in DeKalb. Last year, she took 200 cats to be neutered and released. So far this year, she's at 400 and showing no signs of slowing down.
Trap, neuter and return/release are new bywords that identify a movement to control the nation's feral cat population.
Feral cats are estimated in the millions by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and others. Because the cats must fend for themselves, the cats' offspring are not socialized to be with people and cannot be adopted as pets.
These cats live in a true shadow world, accepting food and shelter from people, but not relating to them as pets. They eat what is offered and what they can catch. Their life span is about two years, five if they live in a colony, according to the ASPCA.
Their short lives are wrought with hardship, at the mercy of the weather, disease, being preyed upon by coyotes and hawks, hit by cars and injured from fights with cats and other animals, say both advocates and critics.
The ASPCA and the Anderson Animal Shelter in South Elgin endorse trap-neuter-return as a proven, effective way to manage feral cat colonies.
And yet, even neutered cats wreak havoc on native wildlife, especially birds, conservationists say. The National Audubon Society and the American Ornithologists' Union, among others, have taken a stand against feral and free-ranging cats. They also urge that cats be licensed and kept indoors.
Jerry Hope of St. Charles, first vice president of the Kane County Audubon Society, said one day he looked out his window and saw two cats lying under his bird feeder.
"They were just waiting," Hope said. "Next to man destroying habitat, cats are the No. 1 killer of birds and small mammals. They adapt so quickly to the wild and reproduce unbelievably."
Hope does not support trap-neuter-return programs, as the cats continue to eat birds and the small mammals that other species depend on as food sources.
"It's very poor logic on the part of people who feel these cats deserve a place in the wild," Hope said. "They are out of place. Domestic cats in the wild are not part of the food chain, not part of balance of nature. They unbalance the balance of nature. And it's really a sad thing to turn them loose. I don't think it's fair to the cats."
Tom Clay, executive director of the Illinois Audubon Society, said feral cats should be humanely trapped and euthanized.
"Cruel is the only word I can think of," Clay said. "It's cruel any way you look at it. I would rather that feral cats be euthanized than be left in the wild."
Carol Schultz of South Elgin, founder of Guardian Angels Feline Rescue, could not disagree more. She said her organization has spayed or neutered 1,000 feral cats a year for about a decade. She said the cats are vaccinated for rabies and distemper and released into cat colonies.
"To me, it's cruel to kill all those cats," Schultz said.
She dismissed the concerns of Audubon members on the effects of feral cats on birds and habitat.
"It's in their nature to chase mice and birds," Schultz said. "Feral cats are on the same order as wild animals. We can't adopt them out, so the only thing we can do is let them live but stop their breeding."
However, Spriet, who is dedicated to improving the lives of feral and abandoned cats, said she accepts euthanasia as an option.
"Sometimes there is no place for these cats to go," Spriet said. "If there is no [cat] colony with a caretaker, I believe euthanasia is better than being starved to death, dying of disease, being hit by a car or eaten by a coyote. I endorse euthanasia. A lot of do-good groups don't."
All sides agree the real problem is people who abandon, dump or just do not take care of their pet cats.
"I had a call from a girl who found a male cat at LeRoy Oakes Forest preserve and took it home," Spriet said. "It was declawed, neutered and tame. It was microchipped and registered to Animal Anderson Shelter. They took it back."
But it bothered Spriet that nothing happened to the people who adopted the cat and then just let it go.
"I tried to call the woman, but she would not answer my phone calls," Spriet said. "That cat could have been eaten by a coyote."
Cathy Cavins, a Batavia lawyer, founded Adopt a River Cat in 1997. Cavins said she became involved with feral cats when she found a colony outside her office in 1995. She said hers was probably the first group in the area to do trap, neuter and release.
"They are a part of life," Cavins said. "I think some cats are fine living with no human help at all. I see some in the neighborhood, and somehow they're managing."
More information about feral cats:
• The American Ornithologists' Union – www.aou.org/
• TNR Reality Check – www.tnrrealitycheck.com
• Fixin' Feral Felines – www.fixinferalfelines.org
• The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals – www.aspca.org/
• Guardian Angels Feline Rescue – www.caroljonschultz.com/
• Anderson Animal Shelter – www.andersonanimalshelter.org/ and click on education and resources
• The American Cat Project – http://www.americancat.net/index.html
• Adopt a River Cat – www.adoptarivercat.org